Clarke, gone from WESH, thanks viewers for support
Popular sportscaster Pat Clarke said Thursday that he was let go by WESHChannel 2, where he had worked since 2003.
“Cut loose this morning just minutes after I had interviewed Lee Corso, who came to the station to chat up college football,” Clarke told me.
“So appreciate the opportunity WESH gave me 16 years ago, and have treasured the 33 years I spent covering sports in Central Florida,” Clarke added.
Clarke was admired for his storytelling, his community connections and his fun-loving style. He turns 60 later this month.
In May, Clarke revealed that he was being dropped.
John Soapes, WESH president and general manager, then described the issue as a personnel matter. The station was hiring a new sports director, Soapes said, and noted that Clarke was a sports anchor.
The hiring of Daren Stoltzfus was announced last month, and he will be in place when the NFL season starts. He joins WESH from ABC News 4 in Charleston, S.C.
Clarke started in this TV market in 1986. He began at WFTV-Channel 9 and was there through 1998 when the ABC affiliate dumped him. WFTV said it wanted a sportscaster who reached non-sports fans.
He then worked at Sunshine Network (now Fox Sports Sun) for four years before landing at WESH.
Clarke was accentuating the positive Thursday. “What a ride! Just wish I would have been afforded the opportunity to tell folks on-air how much their support meant to me,” he said.
In hiring Clarke back in 2003, Bill Bauman, then the WESH general manager, called him “the best sportscaster ever to come through Central Florida.”
Many viewers will agree.